How to register with the Office for Students
Last updated: 16 September 2026
6. Applying for changes of registration category or fee limit
- A change of registration category (CORC) application is where a registered provider wishes to change:
- from the Approved category to the Approved (fee cap) category (either the basic or higher fee limit)
or - from the Approved (fee cap) category to the Approved category.
- from the Approved category to the Approved (fee cap) category (either the basic or higher fee limit)
- A CORC application is a new application for registration. This is because we require providers to de-register in the existing category and register in the new category. The de-registration is only effective if your provider is successful in its CORC application. This means that your provider’s current registration status remains while we assess your CORC application. As an application to change registration category requires a new application, your provider should carefully consider which registration category it wishes to join when first applying. Your provider should not apply to register in one category or fee limit with the intention of changing category shortly afterwards.
- If your provider plans to change registration category after it is registered, please contact [email protected]. You will need to submit written confirmation from your provider’s governing body that it wishes to apply to change category of registration and de-register your provider in its existing category.
- Your provider should specify in its CORC request how it plans to proceed if we do not approve its CORC application, for example your provider may wish to remain registered in its existing category.
- Once we have received confirmation from your provider’s governing body, we will engage with you to confirm the assessment of initial conditions of registration that will apply to your provider’s CORC application. We will issue a bespoke application requirements notice setting out the information you need to submit as part of your provider’s application.
- In general, we require a provider that is already registered with us to submit less information for this type of registration application than for an application for an unregistered provider to become registered. This is because we already hold regulatory information about that provider through routine monitoring. For example, we will already hold audited financial statements for any provider that has complied with the requirements of our Annual Financial Return within the past year, so you will not have to resubmit these statements. However, we may still conduct a full re-assessment of current compliance, including an assessment of the general ongoing conditions of registration.
- You can refer to the application requirements notice as a guide for the information that could be required for any CORC application, but we will engage with you to confirm the specific requirements for your provider’s application, as described above. The requirements for any individual provider will depend on that provider’s circumstances. However, in order to help providers to prepare to make an application, the table below explains which information is likely to be required, may sometimes be required, or is unlikely to be required:
|
Element of registration |
Providers this is applicable to |
Specified information |
Whether the information is likely to be required for a change of registration category application |
|
General |
All providers |
The OfS’s registration application forms |
Likely to be required |
|
Use of sensitive term ‘University’ or ‘University College’ |
Any provider proposing to be registered with a name containing ‘University’ or ‘University college’ in its business, or trading, name, under the Companies Act are sensitive terms |
A letter of non-objection from the Department for Education to use of this sensitive term in the provider’s business/trading name1 |
Likely to be required if the provider is proposing to change its legal or trading names, or register any new names |
|
General |
All providers |
A diagram showing the provider’s corporate structure and ownership. The diagram should:
|
Likely to be required |
|
General |
All providers |
|
Likely to be required |
|
A1 |
Providers applying in the Approved (fee cap) category that will, if OfS registration is granted, have students on courses subject to the regulated undergraduate tuition fee regime and intending to charge higher fees |
|
Always required if applying to change to the Approved (fee cap) category and intending to charge higher fees |
|
A2 |
Providers applying in the Approved (fee cap) category and intending to charge basic fees and Providers in the Approved category |
|
Likely to be required if applying to the Approved category or to the Approved (fee cap) category and intending to charge basic fees |
|
B7 |
All providers |
|
Required if the provider will be referred for a quality and standards assessment – the OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply |
|
B8 |
All providers |
|
Required if the provider will be referred for a quality and standards assessment – the OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply |
|
B7, B8 |
Any provider that is referred for a quality and standards assessment as part of the assessment of its registration application |
|
Required if the provider will be referred for a quality and standards assessment – the OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply. |
|
C5 |
All providers |
|
Likely to be required. To note, the documents required should correspond to those the provider will adopt if successful in its application for the category applied for, which may be different to its current documentation |
|
D |
All providers |
|
Unlikely to be required if the provider has complied in full with the requirements of the OfS’s annual financial return for the most recent financial year |
|
D |
All providers |
|
Sometimes required. The OfS may ask for specific financial updates or scenario planning during the assessment process or at the point of application. The OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply |
|
E7 |
All providers |
|
Sometimes required – the OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply. It may facilitate the OfS’s assessment if the provider can explain any changes to documentation previously submitted as part of any previous successful registration application. |
|
E7 |
All providers |
|
Sometimes required – the OfS will confirm this in writing after discussing the provider’s intention to apply. However, the OfS may request a narrative from any provider that applies explaining how that provider will comply with any additional regulatory requirements if it is registered in the new category |
|
E8 |
All providers |
|
Likely to be required. It may facilitate the OfS’s assessment if the provider can explain any changes to documentation previously submitted as part of any previous successful registration application |
|
E9 |
All providers |
|
Sometimes required. It may facilitate the OfS’s assessment if the provider can explain any changes to documentation previously submitted as part of any previous successful registration application |
- When a provider changes registration category, if it will be subject to a new fee limit, the new fee limit and access to relevant student loan amount(s), take effect from the next academic year. The SLC uses an academic year of 1 August to 31 July, and the access and participation plan guidance also follows these dates. Therefore, any new fee limit associated with a CORC would apply from 1 August in the relevant year.
- As an example, if we decided to register a provider which was previously in the Approved category in the Approved (fee cap) (higher) category on 1 April 2023, the provider would be in the new registration category from that date, but the higher fee limit wouldn’t apply until the next academic year for SLC purposes – i.e. from 1 August 2023.
- We are required to inform the SLC about all changes of category and changes of fee limit by 31 July for them to apply these changes to their systems for 1 August. This means we aim to make any CORC decision by 31 July in the relevant year otherwise the change cannot come into effect until the following year. If it is not possible for us to make a decision on your CORC application by 31 July for reasons including but not limited to those set out in paragraph 78 of this guidance, we will engage with you in the first instance.
- For applications involving an access and participation plan we will discuss estimated timescales for the application process with each provider. When to submit a plan depends of a provider’s admissions cycle.58 Providers need to confirm tuition fees to students prior to them committing to undertake a course. Where relevant, access and participation plan submissions should be made to the OfS no later than 28 February. The closer to the 28 February deadline a provider submits its access and participation plan, the greater the risk that we will not be able to make a decision by 31 July in that year. We ideally make a decision by 30 June as an access and participation approval is provisional and a provider has up to 28 days to accept it.
Notes
[58] See our information on when to submit an access and participation plan.
- A change of fee limit is where a provider in the Approved (fee cap) category changes fee limit either from basic to higher fee limits or vice versa. This does not require a new registration application.
- If your provider wishes to move from the basic to the higher fee limit, it is required to have an access and participation plan approved. You should take the following steps:
- inform [email protected] of your intention to change fee limit as soon as you know that you wish to do so
- submit an access and participation plan according to the deadlines published on our website.59
- If your provider wishes to change from the higher to the basic fee limit, or where this is required because your provider’s access and participation plan has not been submitted or approved, you should contact [email protected] to discuss your plans.
- The steps required will depend on your provider's individual circumstances, including the type of higher education your provider delivers and the fees currently being charged to students.
Notes
[59] See our information on when to submit an access and participation plan.
- If your provider wishes to change category of registration, we will first consider its compliance with any ongoing or specific conditions of registration that apply to it.
- If your provider is not compliant with the ongoing or specific conditions of registration that apply to it, we are likely to find that it does not satisfy one or more initial conditions of registration and therefore refuse its application to change category. We may deprioritise consideration of your provider’s application in such circumstances to ensure that any regulatory concerns are addressed first. Where we plan to deprioritise your provider’s CORC application we will engage with you in the first instance.
- If we have any regulatory concerns about your provider, we are likely to investigate these as part of your provider’s application to change category, as the concerns will be relevant to whether your provider satisfies the initial conditions of registration. The OfS may charge your provider for any such investigation on a cost recovery basis.60
Notes
[60] As set out under Section 71 of Higher Education and Research Act 2017 and in accordance with The Higher Education (Investigation Fees) (England) Regulations 2022
Last updated 16 September 2026 + show all updates
16 September 2026 - Updates to clarify our expectations and guidance for providers seeking to register with the OfS or change category of registration.
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